


A Moment of Quiet

by batterwitch_dumb_basses



Category: Firefly
Genre: F/M, inara and kaylee's wholesome friendship, just a drabble after watching shindig again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:07:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23548891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/batterwitch_dumb_basses/pseuds/batterwitch_dumb_basses
Summary: Inara tries not to think about Mal, and fails. Kaylee knows something's up.
Relationships: Malcolm Reynolds/Inara Serra
Kudos: 12





	A Moment of Quiet

Inara liked moments like this.

For a ship named _Serenity_ (as if she didn’t know the meaning, her mind whispered softly), it could sometimes be nothing close to serene. Reaver ships passing by, jobs going wrong, and Alliance breath on the back of their necks. Serene moments were to be treasured, especially ones like this, where she could just run her comb through Kaylee’s hair and relax.

“Do you think the Captain will come lookin’ for me?” Kaylee asked.

“He might,” Inara said, still lost in that soft, soporific place that the combing had taken her. If she closed her eyes, she might almost be home. “But he knows what I say about my shuttle.”

“He doesn’t pay attention to it.” Kaylee didn’t shift, or open her eyes. Her smile seemed to drop slightly. “He comes in all the time, remember? You said.”

Mal did come in here all the time, whether Inara reminded him of her rule or not. Inara was annoyed, every time, but had it been anyone else she might have been more angry. Nothing, of course, that she could explain to Kaylee, or even sometimes, to herself.

Discipline. It was what she had been taught, and yet what she found tested around him most.

“Well, if he comes in, you do as you see fit, Kaylee. But you are welcome here whenever you like.” She smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder. “That is the important thing to remember.”

The other woman smiled. Kaylee was like a sunbeam, really, a light in the depths of space. If she hadn’t been around, it might have been easier for Mal to fool Inara into believing the front he put up, but his softer side came out around his mechanic. And yet around Inara…

It wasn’t that she was jealous of Kaylee, exactly. It was just tiring to have someone refuse to understand the work you did. Kaylee would never be ignored in the way she felt Mal ignored her words on Companion work. Even if Mal occasionally treated Kaylee like an excitable puppy, he would never do what he did to Inara. And yet, she couldn’t write him off as not caring, or even being the man he acted like. He was a man with a code of honour, a sense of humour, and she was no fool – she knew her discipline, hard-earned as it was, was often broken by his presence. That part had nothing to do with Kaylee.

“You look like you’re lost in thought,” Kaylee said, looking at her and biting her lip. “Do you want me to brush _your_ hair?”

Inara jerked from her thoughts with a laugh. “No, no. It’s alright. I enjoy this.” She sighed. “I’m just…thinking, that’s all.”

Perhaps it wasn’t the time to be thinking on this. These moments were precious and rare, and she had to treasure them. But even still, the ghost of Mal waited for her, at the corners of her mind. Waiting for her to acknowledge him.


End file.
